Josh Heupel’s No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday night in Fayetteville, AR, with a 19-14 loss to the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

Tennessee only trailed by a field goal at halftime despite an awful first half offensively and even jumped out to a 14-3 lead just a few minutes into the third quarter with back-to-back touchdowns from Dylan Sampson. It was Arkansas, though, who was able to come in clutch during crunch time with a 16-0 run to close the game over the Vols.

After the contest, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to give his reaction to the game. Heupel was followed by three Tennessee players including QB Nico Iamaleava, RB Dylan Sampson, and LB Keenan Pili.

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Check out all four postgame interviews below:

Tennessee HC Josh Heupel

Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava

Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson

Tennessee LB Keenan Pili

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Josh Heupel said Tennessee’s defense let Arkansas score the go-ahead touchdown with one minute, 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter Saturday night to give the Vols a chance to win the game on the following possession.

Arkansas backup quarterback Malachi Singleton ran for an 11-yard touchdown on the first play after a timeout to put the Razorbacks up for good in the 19-14 stunner against the fourth-ranked Vols.

“Yeah, at the very end of it, just with the clock timeout situations that we had,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference, “trying to give ourselves a chance to go answer.”

Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) had two timeouts left when Singleton scored. The Vols used their first timeout on the opening possession of the second half. 

The Arkansas game-winning drive went 59 yards in just four plays, with Singleton throwing for 13 yards on first down and Braylen Russell running for 24 yards on second down. Russell rush for 11 yards on the next snap, getting the Hogs down to the 11 before they took a timeout. 

Singleton scored on the following play. 

‘That situation, you can’t keep the ball in your hands’

Tennessee got the ball at the 25 after the ensuing kickoff. Nico Iamaleava threw incomplete on first down, ran for eight yards on third down and threw a 42-yard pass to Dont’e Thornton on third-and-2.

Dylan Sampson ran for five yards after he caught a bobbled snap on second down, after an Iamaleava incompletion on first-and-10 at the Arkansas 25. He threw incomplete to Chas Nimrod on third-and-five.

On fourth-and-five with six seconds left, Iamaleava was flushed left out of the pocket and was ran out of bounds at the 16-yard line as time expired. 

Heupel said the final play was “a full concept read” for Iamaleava. 

“He ended up scrambling off of it,” Heupel said. “End of the day, in that scenario, you got to get the ball up and give one of your guys an opportunity to go make a play. Nico, just like me, and just like our football team, wishes that we had played better. 

“That situation, you can’t keep the ball in your hands. You want to give somebody an opportunity to go make a play.” 

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Iamaleava completed 16 of 28 passes for 156 yards. The Vols rushed 36 times for 176 yards, with Sampson going for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

Tennessee trailed 3-0 at halftime after gaining just 76 total yards in the first half. The Vols went on a 75-yard scoring drive to start the second half, sparked by a 53-yard Sampson run. They went 60 yards on six plays for another Sampson touchdown after forcing an Arkansas three-and-out. 

From there, the Vols ended the game with four straight punts and turnover on downs when time expired. 

“(Iamaleava is) disappointed with it,” Heupel said, “but he’s got to come back and bounce back from it. He’s played way too good not to respond the right way. And I know he will.”

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 4 Tennessee football hits the SEC road again as it tries to stay undefeated against Arkansas.

The Vols (4-0, 1-0 SEC) should be confident and well rested after an open week. They are ranked No. 1 in scoring offense (54 ppg) and No. 2 in scoring defense (7 ppg) in the nation.

Tennessee beat Oklahoma on the road. If the Vols can beat Arkansas (3-2, 1-1) in a second straight road game, they would return to Knoxville unbeaten for a four-game home stand.

Here are the updates and highlights from Tennessee’s game against Arkansas.

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Tennessee vs Arkansas score

Tennessee vs Arkansas updates

This section will be updated after the game begins.

What channel is Tennessee vs Arkansas today?

Watch select Tennessee games live with Fubo (free trial)

Tennessee vs Arkansas start time

• Date: Saturday, Oct. 5
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• Location: Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium (76,000) in Fayetteville

Tennessee’s game against Arkansas is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

The game will air live on ABC, with streaming options available on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers. Chris Fowler will handle play-by-play duties with Kirk Herbstreit as the color analyst for the broadcast. Holly Rowe will serve as the sideline reporter.

Tennessee vs Arkansas history

• Series record: Tennessee leads 13-6
• Tennessee last win: 34-13 (2007)
• Arkansas last win: 24-13 (2020)

Tennessee vs Arkansas prediction

Tennessee 34, Arkansas 17: This feels like a game where Tennessee stretches its offense a little more. A few big pass plays. Dylan Sampson runs for 100+ yards. And the Vols defense forces Arkansas QB Taylen Green into a couple of poor decisions. Check out more predictions from our Knox News staff.

Tennessee vs Arkansas betting odds

Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Saturday:

• Spread: Tennessee -13.5
• Over/under: 59.5 points
• Moneyline: Tennessee -550

Tennessee vs Arkansas injury updates

Injury list will be updated when SEC’s availability report is released 90 minutes prior to kickoff.

• Tennessee: DB Jourdan Thomas (out), DB John Slaughter (out), DB Montrell Bandy (out), LB Edwin Spillman (out).
• Arkansas: DB Jaylon Braxton (out), DB Miguel Mitchell (out), RB Rodney Hill (out), OL Patrick Kutas (out), WR Khafre Brown (out), TE Andreas Paaske (out), TE Ty Washington (questionable), TE Luke Hasz (questionable).

Tennessee vs Arkansas weather update

The forecast calls for 80 degrees and clear skies at kickoff.

Tennessee football schedule 2024

All times Eastern

• Aug. 31: Tennessee 69, Chattanooga 3
• Sept. 7: Tennessee 51, NC State 10
• Sept. 14: Tennessee 71, Kent State 0
• Sept. 21: Tennessee 25, No. 17 Oklahoma 15
• Oct. 5: Tennessee at Arkansas* | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
• Oct. 12: Tennessee vs. Florida* | 7 p.m. | ESPN
• Oct. 19: Tennessee vs. No. 2 Alabama*
• Nov. 2: Tennessee vs. Kentucky*
• Nov. 9: Tennessee vs. Mississippi State*
• Nov. 16: Tennessee at No. 1 Georgia*
• Nov. 23: Tennessee vs. UTEP | 1 p.m. | ESPN+/SEC Network+
• Nov. 30: Tennessee at Vanderbilt*

Denotes conference game*

Arkansas football schedule 2024

All times Eastern

• Aug. 29: Arkansas 70, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0
• Sept. 7: Oklahoma State 39, Arkansas 31 (2OT)
• Sept. 14: Arkansas 37, UAB 27
• Sept. 21: Arkansas 24, Auburn 14
• Sept. 28: No. 21 Texas A&M 21, Arkansas 17
• Oct. 5: No. 4 Tennessee at Arkansas* | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
• Oct. 19: No. 12 LSU at Arkansas*
• Oct. 26: Arkansas at Mississippi State*
• Nov. 2: No. 11 Ole Miss at Arkansas*
• Nov. 16: No. 1 Texas at Arkansas* | noon | ABC/ESPN
• Nov. 23: Louisiana Tech at Arkansas
• Nov. 30: Arkansas at No. 9 Missouri*

Denotes conference game*

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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